Page 25 of Keep This Promise
“It’ll be fine,” I tell her because I really am confident my aunt will not make Sophie the villain. It’ll be me. Rightfully so.
“I feel like the story we said has disappeared. I can’t remember what I’m supposed to say.”
“That we met in Vegas, you were living in England, we’re going to need a location that isn’t London,” I tell her.
“We can say Manchester. My best mate lived there, so I know the area fairly well.”
I nod. “Manchester it is. You and I didn’t know each other the night we . . . hooked up and had no way to reach each other.” All of this is the truth so far, which is really the best angle we can play.
“And how do we explain my sudden reappearance?”
“You came back here for a work event and saw my name in a news article.”
Sophie laughs a little. “That’s a bit farfetched.”
“More than your dying husband sent you here to find me so that I could protect you from whoever may want to harm you?” I ask with a brow raised. “Not to mention, Iwasin the paper, and Mama James has it on her fridge.”
“Point taken. Okay, so I came here for work, but I’m an artist, which isn’t actually a job most travel for.”
“You work for a painter, aren’t there curators or something?”
“Yes, that could work.” Sophie nods and then starts to chew on her thumbnail. It’s something I noticed she does whenever she’s deep in thought.
Even a small lie feels hard when it comes to Mama James, but Sophie and Eden’s safety matters more. I’ll need to make sure my friends are telling the same story as well. That way, Emmett won’t say something contradictory and get Mama James upset.
“Look, if it gets to be too much, just let me talk so that you don’t have to lie when it comes to that part.”
Before we can exit the car, there’s a knock on Sophie’s window.
I look over, immediately ready to fight, and see my aunt standing there with her lips turned up and head tilted to the side.
I know that look. The one that says she is aware I am up to something, and it won’t fly.
“Hi, Mama James,” I say, plastering on my signature smile that sometimes works. “You should be inside where it’s warm, my favorite person in the world.”
“Not today, Holden.”
And sometimes my charm doesn’t.
I glance at Sophie. “Let me explain it all, okay?”
She nods.
I get out of the car and walk over to my aunt and kiss her cheek. Before I can open Sophie or Eden’s doors, Mama James starts in.
“Who is that woman and that baby who could be your sister’s clone?”
“Will you let me get them out of the car so I can introduce you?” I ask.
“Yes, yes, of course,” she says, stepping back and pulling her coat tight around her.
I open Sophie’s door first, helping her out. When she starts to shrink into herself, I pull her beside me, placing my hand on her back. “Mama James, this is Sophie Pearson.”
“Peterson,” Sophie corrects.
“Sorry, Peterson. I’m a little nervous,” I try to explain the slipup that I know wasn’t one as I pull open the back door. “And that little girl is Eden.” She’s passed out in the back seat, which is probably better for everyone while I explain this.
I have the story all in my head, but one look in my aunt’s hazel eyes, and I can’t do it. I can’t lie to her. She has been my rock through most of my life, and I have done everything to be the man she helped raise.
